Yarra Valley Lodge

Come for the location, stay for the facilities: this modern, Yarra Valley address boasts some prime pastoral real estate on the fêted wine region’s periphery, but with a breadth of amenities to hand (and some impressive food to boot), it can be hard to leave.

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£97per night

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Location

9/10

Perched on the western edge of the Yarra Valley, the lodge offers quick and easy access to both Melbourne (a 45-minute drive away) and the region’s plentiful wineries, breweries and distilleries (the closest of which is around a 10-minute drive away). Acres of greenery unfurl from your doorstep: explore them on the marked bushwalking trails come twilight, when mobs of kangaroos potter around the rippling hills.

Style & character

8/10

The public areas of this property sport a Scandi-style minimalism. The foyer in particular features clean lines, with tan wood panelling, white and racing green walls, charcoal grey sofas and a constellation of wicker and glass pendant lights above them. The central element around which the room is designed is a wood-burning fireplace.

Service & facilities

9/10

You be won’t be left wanting when it comes to facilities here. Aside from the two championship 18-hole golf courses there’s a modern, standalone retreat and day spa, complete with sauna; an indoor, 20-metre, heated lap pool; two tennis courts; and even an outdoor barbecue area. Within the lodge there’s also a small bar with a terrace that’s ideal for sundowners post wine touring. Staff are are obliging and down to earth, radiating an easy warmth that’s characteristic of country Victoria’s slower pace.

Bar

Fitness centre

Golf course

Laundry

Parking

Pool

Restaurant

Room service

Sauna

Spa

Tennis court

Wi-Fi

Rooms

6/10

Rooms don't quite live up to the design-led promise of the lobby and restaurant, but they're cosy nonetheless. Furnishings are simple and few – brown-grey marl sofas and armchairs, framed prints, desks with TVs and either twin or king beds. Bathrooms are modern and bright, with toiletries from homegrown botanicals-based brand Appelles Apothecary. Each of the 96 rooms and six suites features a balcony or terrace; opt for one of the second floor’s ‘golf view’ rooms for a panorama of the resort’s sprawling grounds.

Food & drink

8/10

Resident restaurant Bella is a locavore’s delight, with regional and seasonal produce taking pride of place on the menu – from local, grass-fed, dry-aged beef eye fillets to the hiramasa kingfish cured with gin from the neighbouring distillery and the courgette flowers stuffed with Yarra Valley Dairy’s Persian feta. The wine list is also almost exclusively comprised of bottles from the region. Service is slow (we waited almost an hour for starters to arrive) but the food is well worth the wait: the crisp filo parcel of chicken besteeya (a Moroccan pie) delicately balanced flavours of lemon, mint and cinnamon, and had us scraping the plate for every last morsel.

The buffet breakfast will please both the health-conscious (nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, yoghurt) and more gluttonous (pastries, cooked breakfast items).

Value for money

Access for guests with disabilities?

Three accessible rooms are available.

Family-friendly?

There’s a children’s menu at Bella for dinner, plus complimentary cots for babies and interconnecting rooms. Children under 12 also stay for free in parents' rooms (for example in one of two queen beds in a twin room, or on the sofa bed in the king room).